U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said that Rosa, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, got into trouble through her efforts to obtain U.S. citizenship and conceal assets and income from a federal bankruptcy court.

“Gabriela Rosa’s crimes cut to the heart of her legal qualification to serve the people of the state of New York as a New York state assemblywoman," Bharara said in a statement. "She gained the ability to run for that office only as a result of a years-long immigration fraud, and then she compounded her lack of fitness to serve by defrauding a federal bankruptcy court. Now she faces losing her position and prison time for her actions.”

The state constitution says that only U.S. citizens can serve as members of the state Legislature.

In December 2005, Rosa was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in a scheme to obtain legal residency and ultimately citizenship through a sham marriage, Bharara charged. Rosa paid a spouse $8,000 to enter into a sham marriage with her while she maintained a relationship with another individual who later became her husband, prosecutors said. In follow-up statements and interviews, Rosa contended that she has a bona fide marriage with the first husband.

In September 2009, Rosa filed for bankruptcy and sought to liquidate over $30,000 in debt, but made fraudulent statements about her assets, Bharara charged.

In the plea deal, Rosa admitted to the sham marriage and that she submitted false documents in bankruptcy court. She's return the cash in her campaign account, too, -- which totals $855 in January, but also included $11,000 spent in the prior six months.

Albany bureau chief:
Joseph Spector is Gannett's Albany Bureau chief and has covered New York politics and government since 2002. He was the political reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester and in 2007 joined Gannett’s Albany Bureau, covering state government for seven news organizations&nbsp;and USA Today.